Ok, this site is a little addictive: http://www.nutritiondata.com .
You can type in various food categories, and it will then give you not just the standard “Nutrition Facts” label, but also some highly detailed analysis of the quality of the food. Because proteins, carbs, etc. have subtleties beyond the standard label, I think if you play with this site a bid, you’ll be as addicted as I am!
Let me walk you through an example…
I was curious about why so many body builders put pumpkin in their home-made protein bars. So rather than drive to the store, I went to nutritiondata.com and found that they have various options to choose from:
I figured “vegetables and vegetable products” made sense.
And then, drilling down one more level, I checked out “pumpkin, canned, without salt”. Here are a few screen shots (way too long of a page to show you all of them):
But here’s my take away: pumpkin is low fat, decent omega-3 and -6 fatty acids, high dietary fiber, moderate sugar, and a little protein. Because I do a lot of running in addition to weight training, pumpkin is looking like the perfect food to work in around my 8-mile runs.
In contrast, here’s part of the screen for Snickers’ protein performance bar: (http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/snacks/9963/2)
Not surprisingly, it has a ton of sugar. Yeah, it’s got a lot of protein, but this is essentially a candy bar with a scoop of protein powder mixed in. Better than a regular snickers, but something you should consider as a treat outside your regular diet. [If you crave protein bars, make these yourself.]
What do you think of nutritiondata.com? Do you have other sites you’d recommend? Chime in!
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January 16th, 2009 at 4:14 pm
I like it. Has a lot more info than some of the other similar sites I’ve tried. Some others to check out:
http://www.traineo.com
http://www.fitday.com
http://www.gyminee.com
http://www.dailymile.com
January 18th, 2009 at 7:33 am
Yes!
This website is absolutely brilliant. I discovered it few days back by googling the term “nutritional info” together with the name of some food. I am absolutely in love with it. I just love when data are presented visually in a meaningful way. Also the glycemic load and inflamation factors are great “metric” are to see elsewhere.
Thanks for spreading the word!
January 18th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
I’ll get back to it later, but at a quick glance, unless you sign up and change your search preferences the Nutrient Search function feels like one giant advertisement for Campbells and every other fast food restaurant out there.
February 14th, 2009 at 9:26 pm
Might be of some interest:- Pumpkin is considered the prime food in Traditional Chinese Medicine Dietetics for tonifying and building up “Spleen Qi”. Spleen Qi is the particular type of biochemical energy that is most responsible for the for maintaining and increasing the size and tone of your muscles! (according to Chinese Medical theory)Perhaps bodybuilders aren’t dumb meatheads after all :P (joke)